Lurking Around the Corner

Published:  January 28th, 2014

Will O' The Wisp

By: Tom Hammock (Author), Megan Hutchison (Illustrator)

Archaia Entertainment

ISBN-13:  9781936393787

After her parents' accidental death by mushroom poisoning, young Aurora Grimeon is sent to live with her estranged grandfather on Ossuary Isle, deep in the southern swamps.  Joined by her grandfather's pet raccoon Missy, Aurora explores the fog-covered island of graves.  Along the way she meets its sinister residents who care for the tombstones and mausoleums, living out their lives by the strange rules of Hoodoo magic.  When ghostly things start happening out in the swamp and island residents start disappearing, Aurora thrusts herself into the middle of the mystery, uncovering secrets that might be better left buried.

Review

     When Aurora Grimeon's parents die from eating poisonous mushrooms, she is sent to live with the Grandfather she has never met (the only living relative she has), deep in the swamps of the South, on an isolated track of islands.  Aurora feels lonely, with her Grandfather immersed in his research and only a pet raccoon named Missy for company, other than the suspicious and superstitious natives.  She begins to take comfort in the hoodoo rituals of the locals, striking up a relationship with the local Priestess, Mama Noonie, and becomes friends with a local boy as well (possibly more).  However, Aurora's sense of belonging is interrupted by violent, unexplained deaths taking place.  With a connection to the past and surprisingly to her Grandfather's own tragic history, its up to Aurora and Mama Noonie to solve the mystery of who the killer is and how to get rid of him - once and for all.  But can they do it before its too late?

     This whole graphic novel has a very Southern Gothic-style to its artwork, story and overall feel.  I very much enjoyed it and it kept me reading straight from the beginning to the end!  I think what I really enjoyed was how dark and creepy this one was.  The style definitively matched to tone and the plot completely.  The story wasn't the most original of the bunch, with a ghost of a killer being the culprit of the present day murders, but it made sense for this particular book.  Also, I enjoyed the journey to put a stop to his spirit walking the earth and the scenes that showed him talking with the Devil himself.  Probably my biggest regret is that we never do find out if Aurora's young friend (verging on boyfriend), and his family, survive the burning of their home by the spirit.  We see everyone wondering, but then the story skips on to the next point of interest.  Other than that, and an unfinished feeling I had at the end of the book, I really enjoyed myself.  It's one that I think teenagers and people with a slightly morbid streak will appreciate.  

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received this book from Diamond Book Distributors, on NetGalley.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on January 28th, 2014.*

When She Was Gone

Expected Publication:  March 19th, 2013
When She Was Gone
By: Gwendolen Gross
Gallery Books
ISBN-13: 9781451684742

Tom Perotta’s Little Children meets Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones in this suspenseful and beautifully wrought story of a seventeen-year-old girl who vanishes on the eve of her departure for college, as told through the alternating perspectives of her neighbors.

Seventeen-year-old Linsey Hart disappears the day before she’s due to leave for college. As her neighbors piece together what they saw and what they think they know about the missing girl, their long-held secrets, prejudices, and entanglements become rudely evident.

There’s Linsey’s mother, Abigail, whose door-to-door searching makes her social outcast status painfully obvious; stay-at-home mom Reeva, whose primary concern is covering up the affair she’s been having with the Starbucks barista; Mr. Leonard, a reclusive retired piano teacher—and the last person to see Linsey alive; George, an eleven year-old gifted loner who is determined to find out what happened to Linsey; and Timmy, Linsey’s ex-boyfriend, who is left grieving as he embarks on his own college career.

Review

     Linsey Hart is seventeen years old, freshly graduated from high school and getting ready to go study at Cornell University.  Until she vainshes, seemingly into thin air, this seems like a sure thing.  Now her Mom and Step-Dad must rely on the observations of neighbors, investigation of the police and their own private detective to piece together what happened to Linsey.  Who knows something that could solve the mystery?  Everyone is important including Abby (Linsey's Mom, who is detached from the rest of the neighbors), Mr. Leonard (a retired piano teacher who watched over her), Reeva (the woman she babysat for), George (a neighborhood boy who makes collages of everyone with clandestine pictures and fragments), and Timmy (Linsey's ex-boyfriend, that she broke up with on behalf of her Mom's wishes).  I thought going into this, hoped even, that it would live up to it's comparison to The Lovely Bones and to a point it did.   I enjoyed all of the different points of view from each neighbor and their individual lives/dramas that play out in the backdrop of Linsey's disappearance.  I liked the fact that Linsey DID leave a note in the mailbox, but it blew away and caused to whole uproar over her being gone.  The cover representing a creased note, with running ink is one I hope stays into the final printing.   It really represents the book to a tee.  Each individual character was drawn beautifully and I especially found myself caring about Reeva, who is having an affair with a Starbucks barista only a few years older than her teen daughter.  Her confusion and utter wrongness appealed to me on a base level.  I also felt for George who was ostracized and forced to live in his art for human contact beyond his family, who didn't understand him either.  I was NOT a fan of the book being written in entirely lowercase letters.  It was truly annoying to me as a reader, who doesn't necessarily care about artistic license when trying to read and comprehend something.  I also felt like the book had lots of build-up, with a crappy and anti-climactic ending.  It portrayed Linsey, who we came to care about and think of as an essentially good person, as a selfish and immature brat who has no concept of love.  The friendship between Jordan (the barista/genius/music prodigy) and Mr. Leonard (a creepy old man who writes music, plays piano obsessively, and dresses in his dead female relative's clothing) who is dying of colon cancer, to have sprung up from nowhere.  The reactions of all the neighbors at Leonard's funeral had me scoffing in disbelief and snarling at the hypocrisy.  All of them crying over an old man they basically ignored, except to occasionally mentally acknowledge his brilliance or be annoyed by his late night/early morning piano playing.  I loved the first half of the novel, but the second half was a major disappointment.  I wish ?I hadn't wasted my time on yet another mediocre book.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is March 19th, 2013.*

The Curse of the Lost Colony...

Expected Publication: September 4th, 2012

Blackwood

By: Gwenda Bond

Strange Chemistry (Imprint of Angry Robot)

ISBN-13: 9781908844071

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island's most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can't dodge is each other.

Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America's oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.

Review

   Miranda Blackwood has been an outcast all her life.  With a screwed up family life, a Father who's the town drunk and a golden retriever named Sidekick as her only friend, she can't wait to get out of Roanoke and start a life somewhere else.  Phillips Rawling is a juvenile delinquent, the son of Roanoke's sheriff and can talk to ghosts.  His parents sent him out of town after getting in trouble one too many times.  Now he's been called back because 114 people have disappeared from town without a trace - just like the original Roanoke disappearances in 1584.  When Miranda's Dad turns up murdered and then mysteriously comes back to life changed for the worse, it will be up to Miranda and Phillips to solve the mystery of what happened to the missing people, why her Dad is acting so strange and how the family curse has passed along to Miranda.  Can they save the town before it's too late?  I have always been fascinated with the mystery of Roanoke Island.  I have curiosity about it still, but so little fact remains that we'll probably never know what really happened.  It felt like the book dragged quite a bit, moving slowly towards the action.  At certain parts this was a good thing but at others it bored me.  Phillips and Miranda's romance was cute without making me gag and I liked the randomness of their adventures together.  They both had a complicated family history with the original Roanoake disappearances playing a part.  I enjoyed it up until alchemy became involved.  Yes, it meshed well with the 1584 events, but I honestly am bored practically to tears by the actualities of supposed 'alchemy.'  All in all, it wasn't a major part of the book until close to the end.   I liked the book, thought it was very original and would highly recommend it to fans of unsolved history mysteries and YA paranormal fiction. 

VERDICT:  3.85/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is September 4th, 2012.*